Testing, One Two Three Testing
by Ruysbroeck
Summary: Ron finds himself in the middle of a difficult examination, how will he react in order to pass.
1. Chapter 1

**Testing, one, two, three, Testing.**

**Chapter 1**

Shadows prevailed about the room making it seem exceedingly dim and murky, only by a single diminutive lamp dangled low enough to almost touch the surface of a central table. Upon the very heart of this boring circular wooden slab was a harsh glare but elsewhere the expanse was mired in shade. Figures surrounded the table at even intervals but of their faces nothing could be seen; only the barest of silhouette could be determined. That they were all male and slightly older was the most obvious, but if one looked closely enough through the brilliance of the innermost glow it was noticeable that each was a man of means.

Expensive dark suits adorned there somewhat elderly bodies and on those excited occasions a brightly coloured tie would flash into view. Other times a classy watch would poke out from beneath a well turned shirt, or upon thick fingers one or more golden rings would glint fiercely off the radiance. It would seem that each wished to keep as much of themselves secret as possible, hence the darkened meeting place and the multiple entrances hidden in the gloom.

It remained ominously quiet for some time as if most were waiting for something to happen. All those waited patiently in the gloom doing nothing more constructive that drumming fingers against the furniture of twisting about a ring of other piece of jewellery. None preoccupied themselves with things such as amusement with little electronic devises, each had some little toy but none removed them from their pockets. In fact only the lowly utilized the toys constantly, those who were important, and these men were, only took them out when needed.

Finally one leaned ever so slightly forward, his fingers on one hand crashing impatiently upon the polished surface. A slight well trimmed beard tinged with grey could just be seen upon his chiselled face. "I don't believe any more will show up, so lets get this thing started." He stated in a gruff voice.

"Yes, I think others as well as myself have things to do." This stated from almost directly across the room from another gentleman with a slightly higher pitched more feminine voice.

"Fine. The subject we've had our eyes upon for a while has done something a little more interesting of late."

"You mean the boy?"

"Yes." The reply came in a sarcastic tone.

"We all know he defeated some super powered energy like creature." A new voice entered into the conversation "What of it."

The first pursed his lips trying to keep his patience. "It's the fact that he was more than willing to sacrifice an entire section of Global Justice officials as well as local law enforcement to give him extra time to carry out his plain."

"Yes you have a point, it does show a higher level of leadership, a willingness to sacrifice others if the objective is something highly profitable." The newest entrance to the melee leaned his elbows upon the table top with his arms raised upward ending in a point where his fingers met.

"Do you think he would have sacrificed her?" It was an honest question.

"Her…Never! He would let himself be destroyed before that happened." The majority were in agreement to that.

"So how do you think we should proceed? We don't wish to waste too much time on something that we will not be able to profit from." Others about the table were in agreement with that statement.

"Excellent point…why don't we have him brought in for a little testing?" this was from the first voice as he leaned back into his expansive chair.

"I believe we have enough clout to pull something off." Others about the table chuckled at that comment.

"Superb if he succeeds than we proceed with our long term plans, if he doesn't then we let it drop; or reconvene on the subject if he shows some promise."

There was a general mumbling about the table but all seemed to be in agreement "Now the next bit of business…"

Xxxx

It was an absolutely stunning afternoon; the sun was being its usual glorious self, shinning down with all its might and pleasantly warming the cool fall air. Large puffy white clouds of all shapes and description drifted slowly past on a slight zephyr of wind. For some it might mean a lazy walk in the park to view the leaves as they did their annual changed from green to red or gold. For others it might mean getting those last minute chores done outside the home before old man winter struck. Finally for a separate group it might mean a leisurely sit down meal at their favourite fast food restaurant.

Bueno Nacho was a quirky little eatery shaped with a circular base and a large sombrero for a roof, it decoration consisting of mostly rich earthy tones. Outside a low brick wall blocked off the patio from the outside world. Earlier in the season festive planters were set out with colourful flowers combined with the occasional plastic cactus provided south of the border atmosphere. Each of the numerous obnoxiously coloured sphere-shaped tables had held a large yellow umbrella to keep the hot sun from the customer's backs. But all those things had been packed up and placed in storage awaiting a new season.

On the outside wall two large glass double doors opened wide allowing the exit of two youthful teens. The first was female, short in stature but large in looks. Excitedly she dragged behind her what could only be described as her boyfriend. As mentioned she was not a tall girl but very obviously attractive with long flowing dark red hair that fell to the small of her back. Glowing sea green eyes seemed to radiate from her face and her grin traveled from ear to ear. Her body was thin and lean but perky in ways only a teenage girl could be. Dressed for the cool fall day in a tight fitting long sleeved sweater complete with a plunging v-necked, the colour a cool aqua, matching closely to her dark emerald eyes. The pants were denim and the very latest style from her favourite store, Club Banana, where she spent a great deal of time as a sales clerk. The trousers held tightly enough to her firm little bottom that something held in the rear pocked would be easily noticeable. From the knee the fabric spread out and belled as it neared the ankle but not enough to look like a throw back to the seventies. Upon her feet was the standard dark running shoes worn by the majority of teens, these she kept clean and neat tying the laces neatly whenever in use. She walked backwards through the one door letting it swished shut as she ceased leaning against it; both her hands were occupied as pulled her lover along.

The poor boy seemed beyond tired, almost as if the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders. Stumbling awkwardly along as the love of his life dragged him about town. On top an oval head was a mess of blonde hair that seemed to posses a mind of its own as to which direction it should go at any given time. Upon his thin but surprisingly well muscled body he wore his standard look of a large baggy red jersey. Underneath this lose fitting shirt was a black turtle neck and below a pair of light brown cargo pants, the contents of the pockets were the majority of the time a small wrinkly creature with the scientific classification of naked mole rat, Rufus if you wished to call him by name. The young man's deep brown eyes fallowed his ladies every movement for truly he did enjoy watching her every passing, it was just now after returning from his apparent death she'd been incredibly clingy and her desire never to release his hand was wearing him down.

When ever she was nearby she had to have his hand in hers or worse still to be snuggled close. On more than one night he had been awakened to her sneaking into his room and embracing him as close as humanly possible, holding on to him so tight that he figured his body would snap in two. Many times during her sleep he would be forced to grasp her like a child when she began to shake badly racked by some horrible nightmare. At some point he she would recover from the trauma and things would, more or less get back to normal. He had no idea on how long that might take, since she was a strong girl he hoped it wouldn't take long.

Pulled along at a hurried pace his short tired legs stumbled several times as he tried to keep tempo with his mate. Turning about to watch in which direction she was going Kim Possible now used only one hand to pull her poor Ron along. Truth be know she had been overjoyed by his return to the land of the living and back into her life, she had been thoroughly lost without him and her body still showed signs of the neglect. Being quite the stalwart girl the next few weeks would were away the horrid strain she'd inflicted upon herself.

Kim knew full well that on this particular day of the week her man's parents would be out with the newest edition to the Stoppable family leaving the house empty; just enough time for the pair to have a more intimate encounter. Hence the boy being dragged along and the sprint through their after school snack.

Practically skipping from one bit of pavement to the next Kim intended to make the most of their time alone, not that, that wasn't her desire all the time. But on this day of the week it was a gift where the two of them could be alone to burn off that excess teenage energy and tension, all the while strengthening the boundaries of their relationship.

Kim had turned around to watch were she was going, releasing one of her hands but still in firm contact to her lover with the other. A familiar girlish cry came from behind and the slack between their arms suddenly went taunt. Not quite ready to let go she was bodily hauled the wrong way round, stumbling as her feet suddenly found themselves searching for solid ground. Falling she struck her hip and elbow hard against the concrete. With pain lancing through those areas that had been smacked she turned about expecting to see that Ron had tripped and fallen over his own feet, which was surprisingly not uncommon, pulling her down with him. Instead she watched his blonde hair disappear into an inky black hole in the cement. Before she could cry out the cavity sealed itself blending in perfectly with the surrounding sidewalk.

With a bellow of fury an enraged Kim Possible pulled forth her small hand held Kimmunicator, striking the power button she bellowed forth "WADE!" and impatiently waited for a reply.

"Hey Kim." Came a friendly reply from the inside the tiny screen. The view of the young coloured boy was not good, the image emanating from such a diminutive viewing space. But what could be seen of the adolescence was that he was a little round about the middle, not a surprise since he very rarely left his parents basement, preferring to do all his intelligence gathering from the near windowless cavern. His dark curly hair was cropped close to his round head. A lightly blue shirt was the only garment he seemed to have in his wardrobe for that was all Kim ever saw him wear. Not that she ever really saw him as mentioned he hardly ever left his room. Anything below his middle was hidden by a mass of computer equipment heaped about his desk; the vast majority Kim had no idea what it was for.

"Wade Ron's been kidnapped!"

"What again…by who this time?" the young boy replied leaning way back into his chair taking a sip from a soda can that had been positioned nearby.

"Global Justice."

"What would they want him for?" What had not been mentioned was that the lad was about thirteen years of age and was a genius, acing both high school and college before he had reached his teen years. It was also his job as a member of team Possible to keep the field operatives equipped with the latest spy wear, gadgets and intelligence to maintain the group in peek fighting form.

"I don't know? But it's the same hole they sucked me into several years ago. See if you can open it." Kim stated pounding the ground with her fist both in frustration and in a futile attempt to smash through the asphalt.

Wade leaned over one of his many keyboards and began quickly pounding away; firing the data in as fast as his chubby little fingers could type. His eyes would flicker from the screen to his fingers and back again until suddenly his cheeks contorted in a sneer. "Sorry Kim I can't get you in here but…" he began punching the keyboard once more. "Yep I can. You'll have to go back to the entrance where you had that little problem with Ron."

"You mean when they thought he was the secret to my success? I don't remember where that was." Letting out a groan Kim was reminded of the annoying portion of time when Ron's head swelled to unbelievable levels as he believed that he was the most important part of her success. Fortunately it had been proven wrong and he was deflated in stature.

"Don't worry by the time you get changed and into your car I'll have the address you'll need."

"Thanks Wade." Kim struck the button shutting down her little device and took off at a run towards her home.

Xxxxx

It had been dark then, the rain not long ended when she last was here and really hadn't bothered to linger all that long. Presently things didn't seem all that familiar. She had to admit that it had been almost a year since that faithful chase and things could change, plus after a while one dark dingy alley did kind of look the same as any other. But as she wondered alone down the eerie laneway she could only contemplate angrily about why she was here. Nobody kidnapped her Ron, not the villains and especially not the good guys.

It looked a lot different in the daylight. Large darkly painted warehouses lined the roadway as Kim walked from where she had parked her little purple Sloth. The majority of said structures were in half decent shape, being used on a day to day basis by people whose job it was to maintain their work area. High fences lined the sections between the buildings, sharp barbed wire coiled maliciously about the top. Occasionally a thick metal pipe or walkway would connect one building to the next. The majority had loading docks with steps leading up towards them and massive rolling metal doors that would open whenever a truck would latch on. High above a single water tower hovered upon thin metal legs waiting to discharge its contents when called upon.

As she wondered about the area, her Kimmunicator was held at arms length, the display turned upwards so our hero could fallow the little glowing blip that would lead her towards the hidden entrance to Global Justice and presumably her boyfriend. Rounding a corner and heading down a passage darkened by constructions of cinderblock, ignoring the fact that more than once she had trodden in some form of disgusting filth, she fallowed the blip until it dead ended in a solid block wall.

Letting forth an annoyed sneer Kim looked at the familiar wall and knew this was the place. Running the fingers of one hand over the cool cement she traced along the seams looking for the crack that would mark an opening. She had known it wouldn't be as easy as walking up and saying open says me but she had hoped. So the crusade continued with her punching away at her diminutive keypad first picking the right menu then the action which would allow her to open the hidden portal.

Last time it had been opened by a robotic ninja with a device similar to a garage door opener and now for her it was just a matter of matching the correct frequency. She could hear the little computer toy hum as it worked, zipping through frequencies with an extremely hurried pace until with a rumble a portion of the barrier shifted and rose upwards allowing access to the innards of the structure.

The innards of the building were well lit as she took several paces inside and knelt onto the floor. Gently rubbing her hand about; leaving long thin trails where her fingertips brushed through dirt. She knew the divider was here somewhere and had no desire to be directly over the hole when it opened. Once again she told the little processor to do its thing, happily sending it humming away to its assigned task. "Come on up hurry up." She muttered to the little contraption.

Suddenly Kim had the strangest sensation she was being watched. Looking up she was confronted by two men who were sitting at their workstations just staring at her. Letting out a nervous giggle and pointing one thin digit to the ground beneath where she knelt "I'm looking for my boyfriend." Kim explained.

Almost the instant she had spoken the floor zipped open revealing a deep chasm. Leaping into the air she spun about grasping the ladder she already knew to be there and disappeared onto the darkness.

Xxxx

The pair of workers stared down as the hole disappeared and the wall resealed itself. Looking deep into each others eyes imploring the other that what the one had just seen had in fact actually happened. Finally they simultaneously rose from place and slowly sauntered around to the now empty floor. There was barely a crack where the pretty young girl had disappeared and before they stepped forward one daintily extended a toe and gently pushed down upon the ground.

"What are you two doing." Came a commanding voice from behind.

"There's a hole in the floor." One commented but both pointed to the nonexistent hole "And one in the wall too."

The foreman gave the pair that look, clearly not believing them. "Ya there's one in the wall. A little red hair girl disappeared into the one in the floor."

Glaring at the duo "Just get back to work!" grumbling he turned abruptly and stalked off.

The twosome ignored the command instead remaining fixated upon the events of the past few moments. They hadn't realized that large holes resided unseen in their work area, they had never seen nor met that red haired girl and they certainly hadn't seen any guy who might have been a suitable candidate for her boyfriend. What they did know was that it would be a long while before they built up the confidence to walk upon the place where that hole had originated.

Xxxx

Kim hadn't bothered using the ladder as a normal person might but instead chose to ride the rails, sliding down the outside bars at break neck speed. The concrete walls zipped by rapidly as she plummeted the several hundred meters into the dark realms of Global Justice. Occasionally she would feel her fingers rap up against one of the central handrails or her toes would catch alongside a support but for the most part she made the trip almost as swiftly as the last time she entered through this portal. The previous time she'd leapt after the plunging boyfriend or soon to be boyfriend as was the case at that time, catching him before the each went splat upon the decking.

Hitting the ground hard Kim felt a jarring in her knees that rippled up her entire body stressing her joints to the max. Now that she had firmly entered the dragon's layer her blood began to boil and a seething rage took control. Somebody would pay for this insult and it wasn't going to be her.

Abruptly turning she set a path down the only passage way, storming furiously into what she knew to be command central. Although still several dozen meters away the faint glow of computer screens could be seen and the quiet hum of multitudes of personnel as they did whatever monitoring needed to be done.

Thundering down the passageway, teeth clenched and fists balled in furry Kim was not surprised nor was she impressed when a figure stepped out to greet her. He was a tall impressive looking man dressing in his dark blue uniform. A bright red sash rode directly across his chest and gold trim strips decorated his wrists. Slung over his right shoulder was a closed leather purse the contents one could only assume to be a weapon of some sorts. Numerous pouches ringed the black belt holding whatever somebody thought necessary for his policeman's job.

His body that was long and lean with a skin colour that was slightly darker in tone giving away his Asiatic heritage. His head was shaped like an egg with dark jet black hair neatly cropped and plastered with jell. Massive bushy eyebrows were overpowering and almost hid his small eyes. He had the attitude of one who is tops in his field and a tone that was almost condescending.

"Hello Kimberly Ann." He spoke softly in hushed tones.


	2. Chapter 2

**Testing, one, two, three, Testing.**

**Chapter ****2**

One thing not mentioned in the above was his jaw was made of glass, which Kim stuck, unsympathetically sending the poor man spiralling into the open room.

Stepping over the comatose body Kim snarled "Where's my Ron!" Her body was hunched over slightly arms by her side with fists clamped together, ready and more than willing to give battle. There standing over the body of Will Du she waited for any and all challengers to step forward and become her next quarry.

An elderly man strolled towards her from a large knot of older operatives; all had been crowded around what Kim figured to be a bank of screens but from this angle couldn't tell if they were for surveillance or some form of computer. His hair was long white and bushy at least along the sides, there was nothing up top. A long white lab coat covered whatever dated clothing he might have been wearing. She couldn't tell what colour his eyes were for thick heavy glasses obscured and distorted his actual retinas.

He had his arms forward with hands open showing he meant her no harm or that he wished her to do him no harm either. "Don't worry your husband is safe."

Kim was somewhat taken aback. Why did everybody seemed to think she and Ron married, was her mother right, did they really act so much like a couple that everybody thought they were well and truly married. Quick to come back "Where's Ron?" she asked once more.

"Don't worry" he continued "he's safe we just needed to bring him in for some testing."

"Testing…what kind of testing? Why didn't you just ask?" the confused teen hero inquired.

"Well…" the unfortunate gentle looked somewhere other than at Kim. "we kind of wanted to get the two of you apart so we could get a better evaluation of his abilities." Looking at the bewildered face Kim was making he continued "It was figured that with you present Mr Stoppable would resort to his sidekick role and wouldn't allow his natural abilities to come forth."

Ron had natural abilities; Kim wondered to herself, what kind of natural abilities. She understood what the man was saying but that didn't mean she wasn't still annoyed with the whole deception.

The man was no fool and could read her face so he stated "Let's show you what we've got thus far. He's completed the first section and is in the process of getting ready for phase two." Kim let herself be taken by the elbow and gently guided towards the huddled mass. At this point the vast majority were chatting amiably amongst themselves, not paying much attention to what was going on around them. The mighty Global Justice seemed to be taking a leisurely break from monitoring global justice.

The walls of this vast cavern were unadorned and looked unchanged from when the hole was dug to house the facilities. Dark reinforcing ran upwards from the floor presumably to keep the walls and ceiling from caving in and burying all those housed inside. Along one wall three massive green view screens shimmered an eerie glow across the entire area. Almost like an auditorium multiple layers of work stations curved around the main displays. The cabinetry holding all this in place was all a deep shade of purple while work station monitors seemed to burn a cheerful pink radiance. As was standard with most computers a keyboard was situated in front of the VDU and all the computers were wired into a mainframe hidden off somewhere safe. Seemingly forgetting comfort all stations had a heavy black chair behind so that personnel would not have to stand all day long.

The small group men adorned in white lab coats somewhat similar to the ones both her mom and dad wore while at work made room for her around one set of view screens. Nothing of any interest showed on any of the monitors all showed hallways and rooms, each looked as if it might be some other portion of the facility. The gentleman who had lead her over caught the attention of another chap that was seated before the main computer informing him "Rewind the tape, let the poor girl see what her husbands been up to."

Casually the man turned flicking his brown fuzzy moustache as he went. His fingers flashed about the number pad as he commanded the devise to do his biding. After a few moments the television gradually focused in on what could only be her Ron Stoppable. He and several other applicants were sitting separately about a fair sized room, from the angle she was at Kim couldn't see the outside walls. A rather formidable looking man paced about the seated personal glaring down at them. "Ok you may open your papers, and remember all you have to do is finish the examination." He stated in a rather gruff tone. With one more glare about the room he wondered away heading up to a seat near to what could only be thought of as the front of the room.

"The purpose of the first part of the testing is to see if the students can complete a written examination." The man beside her whispered in her ear almost as if the he didn't wish to disturb the others.

Crossing her arms about her chest Kim muttered "So I gathered."

"Yes…" he raised a finger as if to emphasise a point "...they can do so any way they please."

Kim smiled as she watched her lover, he first looked over at the little rodent who always accompanied him and gently pulled back the cover of the test. Like she had told him over and over he read through the questions before beginning to write. The image was grainy but she could still see the reaction, his already pale skin seemed to loose all colour as his eyes widened into saucers. Before he got through to much more his jaw had fallen and his shoulders hunched over horribly. Looking over at Rufus the little creature could do little much more than shrug, he had no idea on what to do either.

As if on queue her escort spoke up. "The questions are of a PhD level if not greater and are incredibly difficult to answer. Vast majority of applicants don't get more than a couple and rarely do any actually finish the test." He answered in a rather smug manner.

Feeling she new the answer but knowing she should ask anyway "So how many did Ron get?" she felt dejected asking but needed the response, the boy was a high C low B student and this level of questioning was beyond him.

"Oh he got them all."

Kim blinked several times and it took some time for her senses to get a hold of the fact that her boyfriend of very little brains had completed a University level test.

Smiling at her clear look of disbelief the man just pointed to the monitor and let her watch as the drama unfolded.

Upon the screen Ron scratched his head more than a little perplexed and then snuck a look around the room. He was as the very back of the applicants and was forced to crane his head about to see were everybody was. Nervously he tapped his fingers upon the table top before sliding his one hand down underneath. Seconds later he had his little cell phone cradled in his hand with his thumb on the call button. "WADE!" he whispered hoarsely into the contraption.

Just barely audible from where she stood Kim could just make out the voice of her computer geek. "Hey Ron, Kim had a hissy fit after you got kidnapped and is out looking for you now."

"Great Wade but I have a problem now. These GJ guys want me to write a test and I don't have a clue." Lifting up the page he took a closer look, not that it helped "I don't even know what the question asks?"

"No problem, lift me up and I'll give you a hand."

There was a clear sign of relief as Ron lifted his phone up so as the boy on the other end could get a glimpse of the papers contents.

"You cheated!" Kim bellowed at the site of her lover not playing fair upon a test. She had leaned forward shaking her fist at the obvious crime.

"Well technically…" the man began but his voice trailed off.

"What do you mean technically?" the teen hero snapped angrily.

The man chose look at her, in the end opting to glance nervously about the room "The purpose of the examination is to see if the applicant can finish the test."

"The only reason he finished is because he cheated." Kim was now facing the man but her arm and one finger lanced toward Ron who was easily finishing his question paper.

"Well the others could have done the same thing but chose not to."

"That's because cheating on a test is wrong."

"Let me put it another way." The operator began hoping to take a different path around the snarling woman. "When you're out in the field and you need answers to questions what do you do?"

"I call Wade."

"Isn't that what he just did?"

Sputtering no particular words Kim was forced to concede that indeed she did call in help when needed. "But this is a test." She finally managed to spit out.

"Not all tests are as straight forward as a written examination." The chap waggled his finger in Kim's general direction. "We like our people to know that help is just a call away, you needn't do everything yourself."

The poor champion snarled her features contorted in a face of confused irritation, still clearly angered that her partner had fraudulently completed a very complicated trial.

All those assembled about the workstation seemed to snap too attention as the bloke seated at the computer called forth that the next trial was about to begin.

Kim pushed through the huddled mass hoping for a better view, after all it was her boyfriend and she deserved a good look just in case he tried to cheat again.

Through the view screen the next test was a completely different type of examination. The room in which the students had been brought looked completely different. It was long and narrow; both ends were of the same height with a wide area for milling about. But down the center the floor was lower; the two ends were connected with what looked like traps more commonly found in a cartoon show involving speedy birds being chased by hungry coyotes.

The instructor threw a large metallic switch and the machinery began to move with a nasty groan. Large bits and pieces smashed together or swished by with devilish challenge. The fellow who was in charge turned to face his charges, feet apart and hands upon his hips glaring menacingly at all present. "All you have to do is get across and hit that red button over there." And that was it. Pointing to the first victim "You go!" he commanded.

The first was a male who rambled up to the line and readied himself. Before him a long thin plank led to the first trap. Not more than several centimetres above the walkway two large pistons smashed together a large heavy looking wall. The ramparts would slowly return to the open position and crashed together once more.

An instant after the two walls smashed together the man took off with the speed of an Olympic runner. His first lunge took him past the opening section of the plank. His foot had barely touched the ground when his muscles thrust him forward, ever deeper into harms way. He was a good way into the first ruse before things slammed shut, catching him in the mist of the two ramparts. Kim watched in horror as his body tumbled from between the wedges and disappeared out of sight into the pit.

In a very matter of fact tone the man, as if he had figured what Kim was thinking, began "I wouldn't worry too much everything in there is padded so nobody really gets too badly hurt." He obviously didn't know Ron very well.

Around the forward edge of the pit all remaining personnel stood looking over the edge, some like Ron in horror, others a resolute calm, still ready and rearing to go. After several long moments the poor man who had the misfortune of being the first crawled painfully up the stairs on the other side of the room and slumped awkwardly against the far wall.

The grizzled old vet turned to the next victim "Let's get goin' girl." Pointing his thumb in the direction of the challenge and making a motion for her to get a move on.

She took a different root; leaping off the edge she grasped hold of the frame for the walls that had crushed her predecessor, climbing with some difficulty along the back. Every time the contraption smashed together she was bodily thrown about but still she managed to hold on. Hand over hand she crawled the length of this diabolical entrapment; face set in a mask of concentration, her teeth had been gritted together the whole time. Finally inching her way to the end she waited as the two sides smashed together then leapt from her perch hurling herself through the air towards the platform.

For the next contestant the first booby trap seemed past and the next was only just ahead. A large weighted pendulum swung back and forth across her path, it consisted of only a long thick circular bar suspended from the ceiling with what looked like a massive rock on the end. The things arc was not great; giving barely enough time to leap through the gap before it swung back.

The pitiable lass didn't make it, she had put to much power into her hurdle and as she landed her foot skidded along the rail. By the time she'd regained her balance the mechanism had impacted with her small body sending it sailing off into oblivion.

Wincing in sympathetic pain Kim watched as the poor girl disappeared only to reappear some time later stumbling weakly up the steps and much like her companion slumped against the wall.

"You know we hardly have anybody actually complete these tests." The man beside her commented matter of fact.

Back on the screen the third man never even waited to be told it was his turn before taking off. Leaping high he grasped hold of the one moving wall and bodily pulled himself upwards, bounding onto the panicle. Ignoring the violent movements he hurled himself along the length before diving head first off the other end aiming his entire body towards the pendulum bar.

Kim took an instant liking to this individual who had a similar drive and skills to her own.

The man caught the bar in both hands revolving the full way around until his feet once more faced the proper direction down the thin path. The third trap was no more a challenge to him than the other two had been, leaping easily around the vicious looking spikes to land perfectly upon the plank. With no other traps in before him he casually began the short march to the end and his chance at being the first, he looked back at Ron, and only one to strike the large red button.

He never made it. In his overconfident cocky fashion he took one large step and vanished. The final section of the walkway was not really secured, instead it pivoted with the far side going straight and him heading straight down. Self-assurance gone the reduced sod sauntered up the steps and sat dejected upon the top step staring off into nothingness, agonizing that he had been so close.

Somewhere to her right a man chuckled "I thought of that." He murmured

"We know, you tell us every time." Another man answered sarcastically.

"Ya but it gets them every time." The first man replied, still more than a little amused.

A bead of sweat trickled down Kim's brow at she noted that only one contestant remained and that was her Ron and she already knew he'd never pull off a stunt like the last gentleman. Gripping her fist tightly together she vowed to watch, but in her heart it killed her to know she couldn't do anything to help him.

On the other side of the camera Ron was having similar thoughts about being mangled and more than one trickle of sweet was running down his face. "You're up Stoppable."

Through the monitor Kim bit her lip as she watched a little conference between man and naked mole rat, obviously discussing the best way to make it across. Ron made ready lining up with the path and all its traps before him. The barrier still crashed, the pendulum still swung, the blades still whirled and that lose board lay before her lover and she was confident that he was never going to make it. Several heavy breaths moved through his lungs before he began his run.

Turning right he made his was to the very edge of the platform before turning once more and disappeared from sight with his blonde hair bobbing up and down as he made his way down the steps and into the pit. Several seconds later the top of his head reappeared once more bouncing to and fro as he made his way up the steps attached to the platform on the far side of the room. Gingerly he stepped past the man on the stairs who just stared in disbelief at the comprehensible display of weakness. Carefully setting over the pair of unfortunates who lagged against the wall until with his fist Ron proudly struck the big red button located upon the center of the wall near an exiting door.

Something seemed to click in the others as they watched the smallest, weakest, least intelligent member of their group as he punched the button. Almost as one they leapt up, falling over themselves as they scrambled to one and all batter the knob.

"He cheated again!" Kim bellowed down at the screen.

"Well technically he didn't."

"What do you mean technically he didn't? He didn't make it across that death trap." Kim snarled angrily at the poor man who had escorted her thus far.

"What was he supposed to do?"

"He was supposed to get across and hit the button." Both Kim's arms waved violently in aggravation before the closest one pointed finally towards the now empty room.

"And didn't he?" the gentleman's eyebrow rose as he questioned the teen hero.

"Well…I…but he…Yes he did." Kim finally spat out before ultimately mumbling. "He didn't do it properly."

"Honestly I think you would have a hard time getting through many of these examinations all our perspective applicants have to go through."

"He still didn't…hey wait a minute all applicants? How come I don't have to go through this if Ron has to?" the thought had finally entered into her head as to why she had never had to entertain these silly tests, after all she had long desired to enter into this world of Global Justice.

The man let out a shrug before answering. "Director wants you so you've been fast tracked and most likely won't have to take this silly stuff."

Smiling, secretly proud that she was desired for this secret society and wouldn't have to worry about finding a job after college. "Hey wait how come Ron has to take the tests? Technically we haven't applied yet."

Pausing for a moment, giving the answer some thought "Well I think it was desired to find out if he was the right type of person we were looking for. All things considered we didn't think you'd come if he wasn't allowed."

"Your right I wouldn't." the young lady answered promptly "And what type of person are you looking for?" Clearly confused as she couldn't figure Ron being the type of person any place like this would be looking for.

"Well we kind of what somebody and if you'll pardon the over used phrase, who thinks outside the box." Using air quotes to emphasize the phrase.

With one eyebrow raised and her arms now firmly crossed about her breast she asked "And Ron thinks outside the box?"

The chap looked down at the floor while scratching the back of his neck "Well we're not entirely certain where Mr Stoppable is in relation to the box."

Kim opened her mouth thinking she should in some way shape or form defend her boyfriend but she couldn't think of something to say, he wasn't the kind of guy that resided inside any box except that of his own fears.

Without waiting for a reply from the teen he continued with his explanation stating. "He seems to be one of those round pegs fitting into a square hole. It will work but doesn't really fit properly."

Again Kim figured she should say something but as with the time before couldn't think of anything, the man was correct once more. So she had to content herself with a grumpy frown and crossed arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Testing, one, two, three, Testing.**

**Chapter 3**

"Hey…hey…hey their starting with him again!" a cry brought about the attention of those who had assembled.

"Look they've separated him from the others, never done that before."

"Whoa look she's working with him herself."

Like most gathered about this little bit of Global Justice command center Kim was more than a little surprised to notice that the Director was taking a personal interest in the challenging of Ron Stoppable.

The woman in question was the officer commanding the entire Global Justice network and had never taken a personal hand in testing any of the latest attendees, preferring to let others take care of the more mundane tasks. Her physique was rather stocky with multiple layers of heavy muscle built up after years of strenuous daily work outs. This had the advantage of making the almost skin tight uniform still look rather sexy upon her middle aged body. Strewn about the uniform were numerous pockets and strapping designed for holding all sorts of do dads designed in aiding the crime fighting super cop. Lower down was the standard thick black leather boots that added that little extra to the "I'm going to stomp you into the dirt look."

But the most sticking feature was upon her face. She was not as worn as one might expect a person would be with all the stress involved with running this massive bureaucratic nightmare. Dark hair was always neatly trimmed with just enough jell to ensure that it stayed in place through most of her normal activities. She wore little in the way of makeup so her face didn't really stand out as an exceptionally attractive. No the one major feature that attracted attention was her one small shadowy eye that seemed to penetrate to the sole of all those who stood before her. How she had lost the one patched over had never been mentioned to Kim but the girl imagined it had been in a major fight with forces of evil.

And now with a sigh Kim watched as Ron wondered into the room with this formidable woman. She was working under the assumption that he was going to get mangled in some way, shape or form. None of the other tests had been fatal but she didn't think her lover would be able to pull the same silly little tricks on this woman as he had done in his other assessments.

Ron wondered across the room with his hand extended outward in friendship. "Hey Betty." He called out as he advanced.

Smiling unceremoniously the boss replied "Please call me Doctor." as she took the boys hand, shaking it readily in acknowledgment.

"No problem Doctor B" cried out as he released the woman's hand and deposited both his into his pants pockets, but not before shaking the one a little, acknowledging that her grip was more impressive than his own.

"Well Ronald as you have hopefully surmised you have just passed though several tests to see if you're worthy to be accepted into the ranks of Global Justice. So far you have been moderately successful in a round about way, achieving the desired goals but you have one final assignment. Behind me" Dr. B twisted around her good side to point in the direction of the far wall "is a gold card. All you have to do is get past me and retrieve the card." There wasn't really a friendly smile upon her face as one more akin to causing intimidation in the viewer.

It worked, Kim was worried. Ron had wormed his way through the other tests but with the Director it would not be so easy, she was a grizzled professional and not easily fooled. A few other things that caused anxiety in our poor heroine was the other woman was obviously a master at martial arts and close quarter fighting something Ron was not, thus the odds were heavily in her favour. With a sigh Kim figured that at least Betty wouldn't kill him.

"Is this sort of like a job interview?" Ron asked in a timid fashion.

With a nod "Yes it is."

"Then you mind if I ask some questions. I thinks Kim's gonna want to know some of this."

"Certainly. If Ms. Possible wishes to join she'll need to know this information."

Brightening up Ron began of fish through the pockets of his webbing and eventually pulled out a small some what mangled spiral note pad and pencil. "Ok like what does this job pay?"

The pair had snuggled up some and were shoulder to shoulder. The Director looking on as Ron jotted his notes down as she spoke. "Well first we usually like our applicants to have some, preferably graduated, some form of post secondary school. And no: art and philosophy majors don't count; it must be a credible diploma. Opening wage is just over twenty thousand dollars…"

"That's not a lot." Ron interrupted.

"No but usually food and lodging are included, you have to go through a training process regarding our equipment and procedures. It goes up significantly after completion"

Nodding the whole time he scribbled. "What about medical?"

"When out on a mission it's all covered, otherwise, things like dental we like to have a quote on before the procedure can begin and we only pay like sixty percent."

"That could get expensive if a kid needed braces."

"True but we don't have the budget to do all the things we'd like." Betty gave a little shrug of bureaucratic helplessness.

"What about maternity leave? I think Kim wants kids someday."

From the other side of the screen Kim flushed red all the while mentally yelling at her consort not to tell them those types of things.

The Boss continued not realizing that she was being watched so closely. "It's a full one year time off and you have to go through the employment offices to get about sixty percent of the normal pay check. No day care afterwards."

"Will she still be on missions even when…"

"Oh no no no as soon as its determined the woman is pregnant she's in front of a desk. We try to avoid having disasters like that, bad for PR."

"Good I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Kim."

"Ok is that all?" clapping her hands loudly she stated ready to get things going.

Scratching the back of his head almost as if there was something else on his mind but nothing seemed to enter into his thought process. "I know there's probably more but no I can't really think of anything else."

Doctor Director entered into an aggressive battle stance, legs braced, and fists at the ready. Ron on the other hand went into something more imaginative, one leg was planted upon the ground the other bent at the knee. Arms and hands waved about in an odd bird like movement all the while he made and odd whooping noise. It was not something that would intimidate a four year old let alone the administrator of a world police force.

Suddenly his hands darted behind his head near the base of his skull and when they returned the one flicked forward exposing a brightly coloured gold card.

The director's one good eye almost burst from her head. As for all the others standing upon the other side of the screen, including Kim herself, were equally as dismayed. "Where did that come from?" someone cried out.

"He was right beside her the whole time, how did he get it?"

"Rewind the tape." Some else cried.

As the man worked, Kim smiled she had a pretty good idea of what happened but wasn't about to tell.

Kim leaned closer as the tape began once more, all she and the others could see was Ron and Betty conversing in the center of the room, neither the card nor the doorway was in view.

"I don't see anything."

"There's got to be something, look harder."

Several moments passed as the men watched then rewound the tape a short bit, then watched for a second time and then repeated the procedure for a third glimpse trying to find what had happened.

"Wait…wait…stop. Look there…there…against the wall" one gentleman had leaned over the man working the controls pushing heavily upon his shoulder and pointed bodily at the screen. "It's that rat thingy." All now sat transfixed as Rufus tiptoed carefully, quietly skulking along the very edge of the wall until he disappeared from view. Seconds later he reappeared carrying the card balanced upon his head, little claws holding onto either side. Gradually the little creature crept the length of the room until he was alongside his pet and then he disappeared from the camera once more presumably back into his hiding spot.

Kim smiled, it wouldn't take long for the good Doctor to figure out that she'd been played and most likely wouldn't be happy about it.

One look at the screen told the teen hero that she'd been correct, the director spat venom from her one good eye into Kim's lover. Any semblance of civility was gone she would nock him into the next century and then some. Fortunately Kim knew she wouldn't kill him, just make his life a wee bit more painful.

Snatching the card from his hand the Head of GJ stormed back to where the card had originally been displayed and unceremoniously slammed it back in place. Aggressively heading back she faced the pitiable sidekick and once more entered into a belligerent stance. "Let's try that once more shall we?" she snarled.

A bead of sweat dribbled down the side of Ron's face as he contemplated his future and how short it just might have become. Running away didn't seem to play well into his hand and attacking would most likely get him injured and Ron wasn't like other people he didn't like pain it hurt him.

Stumbling back several steps, more sweat began to show upon his face. Reaching into the back pouches built into his webbing he rooted around for something that might help his situation. The corner of his lip twitched slightly as he had fingered something that might help; both hands flew out with fists tightly balled. With a quick fluid motion Ron let sail multiple large capsules that struck the hard concrete surface. Within seconds of the shells impacting volumes of thick black smoke began to funnel forth quickly filling the room with a black oily vapour obscuring everything.

In the control room there was pandemonium. The man in front of the computer had his fingers flashing across the keyboard hoping to get things working again. "Infrared doesn't work and the radar imaging isn't getting anything either, there's got to be something in that smoke." Kim knew Wade had thrown something into the mix that screwed up sensor devices but she hadn't a clue what, she wasn't a techno geek. She also knew that one pellet was enough to cloud an adversary's vision enough for a quick escape, the number Ron had tossed was enough to smoke out a building.

"There…there." Near by a technician shouted, his finger lancing towards a different screen on the wall. "He's out in the hallway."

Indeed Ron had vamoosed from the chamber and run into the hallway fallowed by the massive cloud of smoke that very quickly began to fill the entire area. The poor boy looked horribly confused as his feet danced about the floor, head darting left and right in a rapid tempo. It looked as if some gleam of intelligence had perchance to enter into his skull and he turned and dove back into the steaming caldron.

Almost the instant he re-enter into the maelstrom a horrendous bleating reverberation began ringing throughout the halls, red lights flashed almost in time with the moans. From the hall camera a great torrent of water began gushing from the ceiling dousing the corridor in a deluge of liquid. Over the intercom an oddly mechanical voice echoed "Warning fire in sector seven! Warning fire in sector seven! All none essential personnel are to evacuate immediately. All other areas are to lock down and wait for further instructions! All fire crew head to ready stations! All fire doors are to be closed tight!" The machine droned on repeating itself several more times.

Racing out of the smoke and into the passage, the Doctor skidded across the wet floor as she entered into the massive deluge. The look upon her face told of a rage that would provoke the gods themselves. Taking a quick look around she snarled; fists balled in a livid fury, teeth gnashing violently together. Smashing one finger against what was obviously a wrist communicator she roared "Turn that … blasted alarm off! And get those … fans running" before storming out of view of the hallway camera. Kim couldn't quite make out entirely what was said but she very much doubted it was very pleasant.

All around people were racing about adding to the mass of confusion. Obvious fire and support personnel headed off in the direction of the so called fire. Nonessential employees shut down all systems in their area and began to leave the building heading in the opposite direction. The two parties mixed in the middle creating an unorchestrastrated pandemonium. Most of the staff that had been watching so intently the action between Ron and Betty now headed off to their normal work stations to get Global Justice back up and running.

She could read upon the display of most computers the big bold words informing all those who might wish to accomplish something that the computer was locked down and sends all data to a secondary source out of harms way. This was only pulled off by freezing all computer systems at the last point when the alarms sounded and immediately flush all information off. Field agents now began to call in to figure out why they had been cut off, tying up communications. Municipal police and fire called in inquiring if they could be of assistance due to the automatic distress call sent out by the fire alarm, tying up even more systems. The simple firing of a smoke canister had caused a snowball effect launching the Global Justice law enforcement group of effectively shut down.

And the cause of the present uproar cautiously peeked his dirty oil streaked head out from the doorway looking to see if the coast was clear before stepping out into the rainstorm, on his shoulder a blackened naked mole rat, in his hand was the golden card. Seconds later he was unceremoniously grabbed by a pair of uniformed thugs and hauled off too who knows where.

"Well you ought to be proud Ms. Possible it seems your husband is the only person to complete four out of the three missions. Never been done before." The man muttered not quite below his breath.

She was pleased that Ron had been successful in a round about way but Kim was still a little dumb founded again; everyone seemed to think she and Ron were married. It was true that they would be married one day but not for a while. Her mother had always stated that her little love birds had acted more like a married couple than most married couples and had been doing so since about ten years of age. Except for the kissing and cuddling their relationship hadn't really altered, they still did everything together and always would.

Another man on her opposite side snidely added the comment. "He's also the only person to cause Global Justice to close up shop, if only temporarily." The poor man grumbled as he uselessly punched away at the keypad.

Kim thought to herself with a smile that's what you get for kidnapping the master of disaster and forcing him to do your stupid tests.

"KP!"

Kim jumped at the sound of her name bellowed out from across the room. Turning she broke into a big grin as her so called husband charged towards her arms open wide. He was like an oversized puppy dog that had waited all day for its master to return home; bounding across a slippery tile floor, his eyes wide with excitement and a big slobbery wet kiss ready to like her entire face. She accepted his invite and entered into his arms and enjoyed a nice big hug, slobbery wet kiss and all. It was nice to have him safe and sound if not just a little sodden.

"They kidnapped me and make me do some silly tests." He called out still holding tightly onto her.

"I know, I saw." Drinking in his form she noted that he had changed from his wet mission clothes and back into his standard red jersey with matching Rufus carrying pants, she'd have to make sure he hung up the drenched clothing when he got home. His flesh had dried but his hair retained the dampness from being hastily escorted through the monsoon filled hallway.

Looking down at the floor somewhat ashamed he responded "I think I kinda cheated on some of them." His lover could feel one shoe scuff the ground.

"I know I saw that too." Showing a sympathetic smile Kim ran her fingers through the hair upon the side of his face. Excess water trickled over her gloves. "I still think you passed." With that she gave him a quick kiss upon the nose.

He seemed to brighten up at her words of encouragement; most guys did when they learned of their triumphs.

"Now let's go home before they find you some other silly things for you to do." Leaning against his shoulder she took his arm in hers and let him escort her out of the building.

"I came in the other way." He stated pointing towards one of the underground portals.

"I know but I brought the car and it's parked near the other entrance."

Nodding in acknowledgement the young man took several steps before "I don't think Doctor Betty is happy with me."

Trying to suppress a laugh her body convulsed slightly "I fairly certain she's a lot more than a wee bit tweeked with you. Now come on we've missed our little cuddle session and I'm not very pleased with that." And with that the pair quietly slipped from the underground hideaway of the world famous Global Justice law enforcement group. Or at least they will be after all the alarms have been shut down, systems have been reset and water mopped up.


End file.
